Where Does The US Keep Its Nuclear Weapons?

The U.S. Military utilizes a number of sites for the storage, production, testing, and disposal of its nuclear arms.

A 3D rendering of nuclear weapons.

History of U.S. Nuclear Arms

The United States of America is said to be the first country to manufacture nuclear weapons and used them in combat fighting against Japan in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. Since the year 1945, it is reported that America has produced 70,000 warheads or more in a number which is larger than all the Nuclear Weapon states combined. In the year 1939, America started developing nuclear arms by the order given by President Franklin Roosevelt during the World War II. The start of its manufacturing began during the year 1942 where the project was handed over to American Army and came to be known as Manhattan Project. The first three arms that were developed in the year 1945 were designs tested at the Trinity site in New Mexico (pictured above). These designs included a "gun-type weapon" (Little Boy), and a plutonium implosion weapon (Fat Man). That same year, a "Fat Man" was dropped on Nagasaki, and a Little Boy on Hiroshima, both major cities in Japan. The nuclear attacks facilitated the end of the Second World War.

Production Facilities

The Nuclear Armaments of United States of AmericaUnited States of Americaare being produced by the Nuclear Weapon Complex (NWC), which is being administered by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). The comprehensive tests are done on the weapons so that they can remain up to date. Some 27 foreign countries also house the nuclear weapons of America, which include Okinawa in Japan, Taiwan, Greenland, Morocco, and Germany. The production is carried out at famous sites like Los Alamos National Laboratories (pictured), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories, Sandia National Laboratory, and the Nevada National Security Site.

Testing Sites

The United States of America conducted all of its nuclear tests between July of 1945 and September of 1992. Over the course of these years, a total of some 1,054 nuclear tests, and the two nuclear attacks on Japan, were carried out by the United States of America. Out of them, some 100 tests were conducted in the Pacific Ocean (especially in and around Wake Atoll and the Marshall Islands, 900 tests were done at the Nevada Sites, and some 10 other tests were conducted at sites in Alaska, Mississippi, Colorado, and New Mexico. Until the year 1962, the tests were conducted above ground, but after the U.S. acceptance of the Partial Test Ban Treaty, the remaining tests were conducted underground. Pictured above, a "Cannikin" nuclear warhead is being lowered underground for a 1971 test on the Aleutian island of Amchitka in the U.S. state of Alaska.

Storage of Nuclear Weapons by the U.S.

The nuclear warheads of United States of America are stored in some 21 locations, which include 13 U.S. states and 5 European countries. There are said to be some 5,113 atomic weapons, which are scattered all around U.S., and some are on board U.S. submarines. There are some "zombie" nuclear warheads as well, and they are kept in reserve, and as many as 3,000 of these are still awaiting their dismantlement. It also extends its nuclear umbrella to such other countries as South Korea, Japan, and Australia.

Disposal Sites and Safety Concerns

The country disposes its high-radioactive wastes at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in the U.S. state of New Mexico. However, with this, the government is planning to build some repository sites so that the open disposal of nuke waste does not harm the population and one of them is found in the Yucca Mountains. Nearly, 13,000 metric tons of high-level nuclear waste is being spent each year. The safety concerns in regard to nuclear waste are also looked up by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as it put forward the seven safety concerns from the total of twelve in totality as followed by the Federal task force.